Thursday, December 15, 2011

My father earned a degree in architecture, but graduated from college in the midst of the Great Depression. And because good architectural jobs were less plentiful, his life took another direction. Every year, however, my father would design the family Christmas card, and often the theme was architectural. Of all his Christmas cards, this 1967 view of the National Cathedral is my favorite. It's a great perspective drawing, and it also reflects his love of landscaping. He owned books on Japanese gardens, and it's no coincidence that the tree on the left looks oriental. The card was designed as a black and white line drawing, and then was printed in reverse, a technique that works particularly well for achieving a starry, starry night..

26 comments:

Hello Mark:The card is beautifully drawn and we so like the way that the eye is led up to the Cathedral giving the whole scene a great sense of upward movement. We do hope that you have more of your father's cards for this is a wonderful record of his work.

My father designed a card for every year from the time my parents were married. 10 or 15 years into their marriage, my mother decided to document them in a scrapbook, and she called out to friends to see if they'd saved any of the early ones. Back came cards that friends had saved from each year, and today the scrapbook is complete.

I always really appreciate receiving homemade Christmas cards. It is lovely that you have got all of your father's cards safely tucked away in a scrapbook. It is obvious that both you and your brother, René, have inherited his talent.

Your Father's drawing is beautiful.I find it sad that architectural students today aren't taught how to draw. I was in school on the cusp of computerization. Half of my school work is hand drawn, half is computer rendered. The hand drawn work is so much more expressive. Unfortunetly architecture is about money now. How many people can you cram in the least amount of space for the least amount of money in the shortest amount of time.Love the art of architecture.Hate the busines of architecture.

One of the handsomest cards I've seen. I like how the blueprint effect emphasizes the architectural nature of the card. I also like the interplay of all the curved, natural lines in the foreground versus the straight, vertically-aspiring lines of the Cathedral itself, which adds metaphor and meaning to the card while helping to create the visual interest.--Road to Parnassus

Hello, Rosemary - René and I both spent a lot of time watching my father paint and construct things (he always had a woodworking shop set up). We both gravitated to painting quite naturally. Another brother took up photography and has talents that run to boat-building and things mechanical.

You can see a sketch my father did as an architectural student at this posting:

http://allthingsruffnerian.blogspot.com/search/label/Louvre

I agree with you about the beauty of hand drawn work, which takes on a personality that can't be duplicated by the computer. I went through a fine arts program long before the computer, and have come to realize that I had the great advantage of concentrating on design principles without the distraction of also having to learn particular computer programs.

Incidentally, my father worked on a palatial private residence in the late 1930s, one that had separate servants' quarters. It was built for the then staggering sum of $10,000.

I think what I've always enjoyed most about this card is the exaggerated perspective, one that can't be duplicated from this particular angle by camera. My father drew this perspective by actually working from a floorplan.

I grew up but a few clocks away from the National Cathedral in Washington DC, which was my primary playground as a child. I sang in the junior boy's choir there, and others in my family were also deeply involved in the cathedrals' activities (both my sisters went to NCS). One of my greatest pleasures of my youth was befriending Mr. Philip Hubert Frohman, the architect of the cathedral, who--along with his charming wife--were neighbors of ours, when one of our siamese cats decided she preferred to live with them than with us. It led to a fast friendship between the Frohmans any myself, and was the basis of my--since--lifelong affinity for antiques and architecture, which they were both passionate connoisseurs of. This is a lovely card, and I am sure Mr. Frohman would have admired it greatly!

Hello, Reggie - I lived in the Washington, D. C. area during my high school years, and would attend the National Catherdral with my parents. After every service we'd always spend a little time in its lovely herb garden. Perhaps you remember Francis Bowes Sayre Jr., who was dean of the cathedral for many years. He was Woodrow Wilson's grandson, and bore quite a resemblance to him. When he spoke, one could almost imagine that you were in Wilson's presence.

Hello, Patrick - Thank you for you comment. I agree with you about the computer (see my reply to Archguy) — I think there's such an emphasis on teachiing computer graphics these days that the design basics are bound to suffer.

This is so lovely, you immediately have a strong connection and can feel the lines are hand drawn. A computerized card would not have such an impact. This does not have the feel of being mass produced. I really love it!